Simple Nutrition Insights

The Truth About Fats: Beyond the Myths

• Leonila • Season 2 • Episode 22

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Fat isn't the villain it's often made out to be - it's absolutely essential for your health. Registered Dietitian Leonela Lacampos dives deep into this misunderstood macronutrient, debunking myths and providing science-backed insights on why we need fat and how to choose the right kinds.

Discover the critical differences between unsaturated, saturated, and trans fats, and learn which foods provide the most beneficial fats for brain health, hormone production, and energy regulation. Did you know that approximately 60% of your brain is made of fat? Or that certain vitamins can only be absorbed when consumed with fats? These surprising facts highlight why fat restriction can actually undermine your health goals.

Beyond the science, this episode delivers practical strategies for incorporating healthy fats into your daily meals. Find out how to read nutrition labels to spot hidden trans fats, which cooking oils work best for different temperatures, and simple ways to upgrade your snacks and breakfasts with nutritious fat sources. Leonela shares her professional 3-2-1 method for building balanced plates that include appropriate portions of all macronutrients, including fats. Whether you're managing cholesterol levels, working on weight goals, or simply trying to eat more nutritiously, these actionable tips will help you make confident, informed choices about the fats you consume.

Share this episode with someone who's still afraid of fats, and follow Leonela on Instagram at nutrition_with_leonela for more evidence-based nutrition insights that cut through the noise of diet culture and food trends.


Fat Helpful Guide 

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Speaker 1:

Hey, hey, welcome back to another episode in the Simple Nutrition Insights Podcast. I am your host, luni Lacampos, registered Dietitian, and today we are diving into a topic that often gets a bad rap Fats. Yes, fat, or fat, is a macronutrient and, yes, we absolutely need it. So let's break down the science, bust a few myths and, most importantly, walk away with practical tips to feel confident about fats on your plate. Fats is one of the three macronutrients alongside protein and carbohydrates. It's the most energy dense, giving us nine calories per gram compared to four from protein and carbs. If you haven't had the chance to listen to, I want to say my last two episodes maybe the last three, because there was one in the middle, but I've done proteins and carbohydrates myths and practical tips. So if you haven't had a chance to listen to those episodes, go back and take a listen. I also provided really useful handouts that you can use to help you make healthier decisions or choose the best protein sources for your carbohydrates as well, so check it out. But we need fat for brain health. About 60% of our brain is made of fat. Hormone production, especially key for women's health and metabolism. Um, more specifically, as we go into menopause, perimenopause, we. We need um our healthy fats right for for that, hormone production, balancing and regulation nutrient absorption. Vitamins a, d, e and k are considered our fat soluble vitamins, which they need fat to be absorbed and also for cell structure and energy storage. So, despite what diet culture may have taught us, fat is not the enemy, just like carbohydrates are not the enemy. It's so interesting that there's. You know, we go through different trends and different phases, and I see this a lot in my practice, right, when I talk to clients and they ask me about you know, carbohydrates are bad for you. You should not have fruit X, y, z or fats are bad for you if you're trying to lose weight, and it is my job, right, as a registered dietitian, to dismissify these myths, right, and this misinformation, because I also had clients tell me you know, there's so much information out there and I don't even know what's right and what's wrong or what's true and what is not, because, thankfully, right, we have the internet and we can research different topics, but sometimes the information out there is not accurate, right? Or if you're getting your information from someone that has no credentials at all, it's so important to be worried about that right, because they can have their own opinions, so they can say, oh, these avocados are bad for you, right, because they have so much fat Totally incorrect, right. And so we have to be really cautious as to where we get our information from and also to make sure they don't have their own agendas and their own biases about it. So, research-based information.

Speaker 1:

So let's break down fats into three main categories. We have our unsaturated fats, the heart-healthy kind, which is found in avocados, olive oil, nuts, seeds and fatty fish, like salmon, sardines, tuna, no-transcript. Now, saturated fats are divided into polyunsaturated, monounsaturated fats. We are not going to go into the chemistry about it, but, again, these are found in your plant sources as well as your fatty fish. They help increase your good cholesterol, which is your HDL, and they help to lower your bad cholesterol, which is your LDL, right. So these are fats that we want to add into our meals. They also help with satiety, right, because they're more calorie dense. They're not going to be digested as fast versus our carbohydrates, which, you know, if we combine them. It's going to help not to have these sugar spikes right, or these sugar roller coasters, and it's also going to help us help not to have these sugar spikes, right, these sugar roller coasters. And it's also going to help us to not have like these cravings, right, if we, again, if we're making this balanced meal. So, if you want to have toast, have toast with avocado, right, some slices of avocado.

Speaker 1:

Now, I want to pinpoint here that, because they are, even though they're healthy fats right, we have to be mindful of're healthy fats, right, we have to be mindful of their calorie dense. Right, they are calorie dense, so they're twice as much of they have twice as much calories as proteins and carbohydrates, so we can also just not have like overabundance of it, right, because you heard that they are healthy and we should have a good amount of them, but we have to still be mindful of that. If this is something that you're conserving right, in terms of, like, maintaining your body weight, right, or possibly losing weight you have to consider that, if you're wanting to gain weight, this is actually a great way to increase your calories without adding an excessive amount of volume, because, again, they're calorie dense. So, if we're trying to gain weight which you might think that for some people that are trying to gain weight is so easy, but it is not it could also be as difficult as losing weight, right, for many reasons. So sometimes adding some of these healthy fats into our meals, a little bit of extra, can help us with our weight gain goals.

Speaker 1:

Then we have our saturated fats. They're not inherently bad, but moderation is key, right? Saturated fats are found in butter, cheese, coconut oil, red meat. So too much saturated fat can raise LDL, right, our bad cholesterol. And so oftentimes when I have clients that come to me and they say, okay, my doctor told me that I have high cholesterol, we focus on reducing our saturated fats. Right, our saturated fats, again, are going to come from our animal sources, but there's also two plant sources that can also contribute to saturated fat if we're having an excess amount, and that's coconut oil and palm tree oil, or palm tree. Or too much coconut itself, right, coconut water is fine because it doesn't have the fat in it, and so oftentimes people think, oh, I'm just going to use tons of coconut oil everywhere. Right, cook with it, add it to whatever, and that can still contribute to your bad cholesterol. So we have to also be cautious about that.

Speaker 1:

So if you have high cholesterol or high LDL, right, look into where your saturated fats are coming from. Oftentimes it's going to be in, like butter, butter cheese, like if it's whole milk cheese or whole milk dairy products, right, just making those those little changes to fat free or one percent will uh help. Or uh choosing on your your uh liquid, a room temperature oils, right, avocado, um, if you're cooking, or grapeseed if you're cooking or grapeseed if you're cooking. Olive oil if you want to drizzle it on something or make salad dressings, because the smoking point is a lot higher for avocado and grapeseed oil so they're not going to burn as fast, right, which is what we want. We don't want to burn our oils because that we're not going to get into it, right, but it's not healthy for us when we're burning our oils.

Speaker 1:

And you're able to find, if you're buying foods that have a food label, right, packaged processed foods, look at your nutrition facts label. It will tell you their fats and then it's going to have saturated fats. Sometimes it will label it will have your polyunsaturated, your monounsaturated, remember, if it says unsaturated, that is a healthy fat. If it's a saturated fat, that can contribute to if too much is consumed, can contribute to increased LDL. So look at those numbers, right. Then you're going to have the percentages and I've done an episode on how to read a nutrition facts label. So that was last year. I might do another one this year. So take a look at that right, if you're not sure how to read a nutrition facts label, because it can be really helpful right. So again, if we're trying to lower our cholesterol, look into where your saturated fats are coming from and try to make some changes there to help you.

Speaker 1:

The next one is trans fats. So trans fats are more. They're solid room temperature. They haven't chemically modified right by the food industry. There's also some found in animal meats, but the concern is more so when it's used in in products and packaged foods, baked products because it has been shown to increase your bad cholesterol, your ldl and decrease your hdl. Again, you find them in some baked goods, processed snacks, fried foods.

Speaker 1:

You won't see it on the nutrition facts label because the FDA, food and Drug Administration, told the food industry that they needed to lower the amount of trans fats they were using because of the impact on heart health, and so it's not that it has zero, right, you will see that on the Nutrition Facts label that it says zero trans fat, but because the suggestion is to have less than 0.5 grams or less per serving. And so if it has that amount which is always going to right Because it essentially is a regulation you won't see it on the nutrition facts label but you will see it on the ingredients list. So if on the ingredients list you see partially hydrogenated oils or fully hydrogenated oils, essentially that is a trans fat right. So not only look at the nutrition facts label, that is a trans fat right. So not only look at the nutrition facts label, look at the ingredients list to see if there is partially or fully hydrogenated oils, because again, that is a trans fat and although it might not have a significant amount per serving, if you eat that consistently right, or if you eat multiple products that have this trans fat, it is going to add up, it is going to increase your LDL and decrease your HDL right. So I usually suggest and I oftentimes don't say avoid right or don't add but if there's heart problems, heart disease, history of stroke or heart attacks or chronically elevated LDL right or chronically elevated LDL right or high cholesterol, then we focus on, for a period of time, avoiding right, not having anything that has trans fats and reducing saturated fats significantly to lower that risk right of having a heart attack or a stroke. So, again, trans fats, look for partially or fully hydrogenated oils. Specifically, if you're buying more baked goods, right, more processed snacks, more fried foods, look into that specifically.

Speaker 1:

Now someone asked me and this is more so because there is a trend, right as always, about tallow and replacing all the seed oils or whatever with tallow. It's not that it's going to make the food healthier, right. Still, tallow is, you know, an animal fat. It's still going to have saturated fat, it's still going to have cholesterol. It is solid at room temperature, so it can last longer, but it doesn't mean that it is essentially healthier, right. So it can still contribute to increase your LDL and increase your bad cholesterol, right. So we cannot just go and replace all our oils and just use them. You know, freely, because we hear this trend, right, because we hear this influence, they're saying that it's better and whatever and whatever. So you still have to be cautious, right, because still can contribute to bad cholesterol, increase your LDL, possibly decrease your HDL. So, again, be really cautious about these things that you hear or read on the internet or social media.

Speaker 1:

It's better to consult with a registered dietitian to learn more about that and learn. Okay, what's going to work best for me? Right? Because, again, these suggestions are general recommendations. It's not that it's going to work best for me, right, because, again, these suggestions are general recommendations. It's not that it's going to be specifically individualized for you, right, it's just for the masses, so keep that in mind as well. Okay, here's how you can include fat in balance in a balanced and intentional way. Build your play. Use, seeing my 3-2-1 method At least three ounces of protein with every single meal, two cups of vegetables and one serving of carbohydrates right, and add your healthy fats, like a tablespoon of olive oil on your veggies or a few slices of avocado, to add those healthy fats and add those benefits right to your plate.

Speaker 1:

Upgrade, upgrade your snacks, right? So, instead of you know, snacks that have, maybe that are more processed or more packaged, use apple slices with almond butter or Greek yogurt with chia seeds and walnut tummins and raw veggies. Or, if you want to add some crackers, right, whole grain crackers. Ideally, they don't have any of these partially hydrogenated oils, ideally that they don't have any of these partially hydrogenated oils. Look at the ingredients list and you can still add them and they can still be part of of your day-to-day right of your meals. We can cook smarter, right?

Speaker 1:

So if we had using different oils, right, as I mentioned, using avocado oil for cooking, because it does have a higher smoking point, so it's not going to be burning as fast versus you were to use olive oil to cook, right, use olive oil for dressings, as I mentioned, marinades and things like that to flavor, to add some flavor to your food or to add it to your vegetables. That is a wonderful idea and we also don't need to use a lot, right I? I like visuals and so if you look at your thumb, right, that's about a tablespoon. So if you use a tablespoon of oil whatever the oil that you're using that's about 200 calories, right? So, so it can definitely add up. So I oftentimes say if you really need to use oil, buy this spray, right? So just to coat your pan or whatever you're using to cook, and so the food doesn't stick, right, and you can still cook your meals. Or you can even also spray it on your vegetables, right, to add some flavor, maybe saute or stir fry or whatever you want to make, and you're using a lot less oil, right?

Speaker 1:

If that is the case, don't fear fats at breakfast. Again, they can help with satiety. They can help with staying satiated for a longer period of time, right, specifically in the mornings when we're going to be so busy. It can keep us from having cravings later on in the evening, or just keeping our hunger more stable or our acetate more stable. So add flaxseed, ground flaxseed or chia seeds to your oatmeal, to your smoothies, to your yogurt, pretty much to anything. Cook your eggs with olive oil, right again, if they're going to be cooked at a lower temperature, or avocado oil, if you're going to cook them for a longer period of time. Top your toast with avocado or nut butter. You can even add hemp seeds to your avocado toast or to your nut butter toast, and that's one other way to add a little bit of protein, some fiber and some healthy fats.

Speaker 1:

Quick questions here that I often get asked Isn't fat bad for weight loss? Actually, incorporating healthy fats can support weight loss by keeping you full and satiated longer. The key is, again, portion and quality right, not restricting it Again, as I mentioned at the beginning. Again, portion and quality right, not restricting it Again, as I mentioned at the beginning, we still need fats, right, our healthy fats, because they are part of a macronutrient, so we do need them, right. We need them for hormonal balancing, we need them to be able to absorb our fat-soluble vitamins A, d, e and K. We need them for satiety, right, and so we still need them. So don't just avoid them and like eliminate them completely.

Speaker 1:

Okay, my friends, lots of things to consider, lots of things that I talked about in a short period of time, but I wanted to do our last macronutrients. I think I'll be doing one on micronutrients, which are your vitamins and minerals. I do have a friend, a dietician colleague, that she did a presentation on all your vitamins, so I think I'm going to have her join me to do these next episodes and talk about all the vitamins, but for now, I want you to remember right that fat is essential, delicious and part of a balanced nutrition plan. When we choose the right kinds, it supports our hormones, brain, heart and energy levels. So let's move away from the fear and start making confident, informed choices. If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a friend and leave a review, and don't forget to follow me on instagram at nutrition underscore, with underscore leonela. And until next time, keep fueling your body with intention and joy. All right, my friend, take care, talk to you soon, bye. Bye for now.